Tractors and Fire Trucks

Me and My "Guys"

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This is my blog for recording the learning activities I do with my kids. My other blog is private and is for family and friends, despainfamily06.blogspot.com. If you would like to be invited to read that blog, please leave a comment! Thanks!

I started this blog because many people were often asking for ideas of things to do with their kids. I am loving life as a stay-at-home mom with two kids. We have lots to do to keep ourselves busy and entertained! I hope some of the ideas I share will bless your homes and families.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

This behavior management technique is from Love and Logic. I tried it the other day and it worked really well.

Andrew had been whining for a few days...something he's picked up lately...and I was getting into a bad pattern of getting frustrated, telling him to stop over and over and throwing my hands up in the air. You know...all the less-effective parenting techniques that we all know DON'T WORK. I have plenty of excuses for my less-effective parenting, but I knew it had to change.

So, I started re-reading Love and Logic Magic For Early Childhood.

I re-implemented the techniques and fine-tuned my skills, but the energy drain was new.

When Andrew started whining, I told him, "When you whine, it drains my energy (100% true). What are you going to do to put it back?"

His response? Just as they said it would be: (Insert whining voice here): "But I don't know how to put it back."

Me: "Do you want some suggestions?"

Andy: "Yes."

I then listed off three chores that he could do that would help "put energy back in me".

It worked. No more whining. And I had a lot of energy back in me. No Joke.

That day.

A couple of days later, it started again and we repeated the same conversation.

This time the chore he chose was to fold his blanket.

He didn't know how, so there was a fair amount of whining and crying when I wouldn't help him. Then I asked if he wanted some help. I laid the blanket down on the floor and then I sat on the couch. I coached him through it and then he figured the rest out on his own. He was so proud of himself when he was done. We had one more energy drain moment a little while later, when he chose to sweep the floor, and none since.

He has been trying very hard to remember to use a non-whiny voice when talking to me and it's obvious.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Sunday Brad was fussy and David had to go to choir, so I took the boys on a nature walk. We took pictures of cool things and then for FHE we made a nature book. We had fun. Andrew told us what to write for the captions and he helped write some of his own!

We are having fun asking grandmas and grandpas questions and finding out some fun facts! Andrew was especially excited to find out that Grandma Wright likes to read and I was excited to find out that Grandma Despain loves homemade ice cream!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I came up with a fun way to do some family history with my kids. We created these word documents for both children, and parents and grandparents. I kept mine simple because the boys are young. We will add to their books as they get older and can understand more. Each person has their own page and we added one for their step-grandma because she is an important part of our family, too.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

There are some books for each season that have become family favorites. We started checking them out at the library and we are developing quite a collection that we want to purchase so we can have them.

For Thanksgiving, we love Over the River: A Turkey's Talehttp://www.librarything.com/work/1861665It's a fun book of pictures put to a familiar song. We read it nightly throughout the month of November, enjoying the story and anticipating going to grandma and grandpa's house for Thanksgiving.

These books have become family favorites and seasonal traditions. They remind us of good times spent together during our favorite time of year. What are some of your family's favorite books?

We made predictions about what color each set would make. To add sight word practice into the whole thing, I wrote the names of the each color and put it next to the appropriate part of the tin. After we mixed and discussed colors, he got to paint with them.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Blocks are great for developing math skills. Place a variety of objects in the block area: standard unit blocks, colored blocks (Ikea), plastic animals, empty spice bottles, empty diaper boxes, cars and trucks, leaves, bark, mesquite beans, etc., old keys. Anything you can think of. Put a couple of objects in and change them out periodically. Given the opportunity, kids will discover and explore in ways you would never dream of. They will learn math, spatial reasoning, act out things they see in the world. It's great for classifying and sorting. You will notice your kids classifying different kinds of cars and trucks, animals and objects. These are foundational concepts that will help them to be successful in math.

It's a great opportunity to notice what they are doing and learning and then to extend that learning with a variety of activities and projects.